Anger over 'drop bombs on Gaza' app

A mobile phone app which invites players to drop bombs on Gaza from an Israeli military plane has been removed from Google Play following complaints.

Bomb Gaza which instructs users to "drop bombs and avoid killing civilians" was reportedly downloaded around 1,000 times before it was pulled by Google Play.

It was uploaded to the app store under the name of developer PlayFTW on Thursday but was met with outrage by Google Play users, calling the game "sick" and "disgusting" for mimicking the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel.

The app, which appears to still be available to play on Facebook, shows a plane continuously flying over "Gaza" above cartoon images of militants and civilians.

A Google spokesman confirmed the app had been removed from its store.

He said: "We don't comment on individual apps, but will remove apps that breach our guidelines."

The guidelines prohibit content which amounts to speech, bullying and violence.

Apps uploaded to Google Play, designed for Android phones and tablets, are not automatically reviewed by Google unless complaints are made.

The Guardian reported that the apps maturity setting - designed to protect younger gamers from harmful content - was listed as 'low", making it suitable for young players.

A comment by a Google Play user posted on the review section of the app said: "Utterly shameful. Real people, many of them children, are dying in Gaza. Many of those who haven't been killed face life with debilitating injuries, bereavement and without homes. Their suffering is as real as yours or mine, and to make light of it like this speaks of your essential failure as a human. Shame on the creators of this game, and those who 'play' it."

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Another comment on the Facebook page read: "This is sick. You should be ashamed to have created such an app. Do you really think it's a game?"

The Press Association has been unable to contact PlayFTW.

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Comments (1)

I'm not being funny, but there have been hundreds of war games made since the 1980's on various different types of machines: Amstrad CPC 464, Spectrum, Commodore, NES, SNES, Sega, N64, Playstation, XBox etc... And now phone apps... It may be a little insensitive due to the conflict that already exists in Gaza, but how about the feelings of people who are reminded of horror in other wars? There are plenty of games that recreate wars such as the American civil war, WW1, WW2, the Gulf war in 1990/1991.... What's the difference? What do you think Desert Storm was about!? That game was released in the same year as the Gulf War was happening.... Too many softies in this world. Or, too many scared people worried about political correctness...

I'm not being funny, but there have been hundreds of war games made since the 1980's on various different types of machines: Amstrad CPC 464, Spectrum, Commodore, NES, SNES, Sega, N64, Playstation, XBox etc...
And now phone apps...
It may be a little insensitive due to the conflict that already exists in Gaza, but how about the feelings of people who are reminded of horror in other wars? There are plenty of games that recreate wars such as the American civil war, WW1, WW2, the Gulf war in 1990/1991.... What's the difference?
What do you think Desert Storm was about!? That game was released in the same year as the Gulf War was happening....
Too many softies in this world. Or, too many scared people worried about political correctness...tub_thumper

I'm not being funny, but there have been hundreds of war games made since the 1980's on various different types of machines: Amstrad CPC 464, Spectrum, Commodore, NES, SNES, Sega, N64, Playstation, XBox etc... And now phone apps... It may be a little insensitive due to the conflict that already exists in Gaza, but how about the feelings of people who are reminded of horror in other wars? There are plenty of games that recreate wars such as the American civil war, WW1, WW2, the Gulf war in 1990/1991.... What's the difference? What do you think Desert Storm was about!? That game was released in the same year as the Gulf War was happening.... Too many softies in this world. Or, too many scared people worried about political correctness...

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